


Bullies

by Lyra_Kero



Series: Do You See a Clue? [4]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Because I can't write good proper angst, Bullying, Comfort/Angst, Don't fuck with his nephew, He will fight a five year old, I'll probably change it when I think of a better one, I'm Bad At Tagging, If I think of a better one, Is what I'm trying to say, Lance (Voltron) is Good With Kids, Lance does not curse, Lance is Keith's Stability, Lance is the host of Blue's Clues, M/M, Mama Bear Keith, Papa Wolf Keith, Protective Keith (Voltron), Ren is a pure child, The title of this fic sucks, not much angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-05
Updated: 2019-09-05
Packaged: 2020-10-10 17:41:18
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,312
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20531975
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lyra_Kero/pseuds/Lyra_Kero
Summary: Ren's far to happy and excited to tell all his friends at daycare about his uncle Keith and Lance. But there's always one kid who has to go and spoil his fun.





	Bullies

**Author's Note:**

> Sup? I've been trying to finish this for like... three months? -checks calendar- Something like that.
> 
> Anyway, I've been trying to write more for this AU because I just love it so much? And I love Ren, he's a precious child.  
Chronologically, this would take place between "A Clue, A Clue" and "Let it Snow". Basically like... right after Lance comes back from his tour and his and Keith's first date, but before their second date.
> 
> Does this mean I'll write a fun Klance date fic? Soon. I have a different one I want to try and finish by Halloween, as I've had that idea in my head since last year.
> 
> But, anyway, that's all I wanted to say here.

Ren loved daycare. He really did. It was fun, Ms. Florona was very nice and he had a lot of friends!

Chad Bowers was not Ren’s friend. Chad Bowers was the oldest kid at daycare, and he bullied everyone. He took toys from others while they were being played with, he knocked books out of people’s hands while they were reading. He’d mess up games when people were playing. He’d hide all the popular movies up on the high shelves that only he could reach.

Ren didn’t like Chad Bowers. And Chad Bowers didn’t seem to like anyone.

So when Ren showed up at daycare, happily talking about the live show he went to with his uncle Keith, and talked about meeting Lance, Chad made himself known.  
“Yeah right!” Chad said, loudly. “I bet you didn’t get to see him at all!”

“I did!” Ren narrowed his eyes. “I went this weekend! Uncle Keith and I got to go backstage and I met him! And he and uncle Keith are gonna get married!”

“Married?” Jenny Yui gasped, her eyes wide. “They’re gonna get married?”

“Yep!” Ren grinned, puffing out his chest.

“When are they gonna get married?” Markie Sutherfield asked, hugging his toy dinosaur close.

“I don’t know,” the boy shrugged, but still smiled. “But I know they’re gonna. ‘Cause uncle Keith likes Lance a lot! And Lance likes uncle Keith, too!”

“What a bunch of baloney!” Chad crossed his arms. “You’re just making stuff up!”

“I am not!” Ren turned, glaring up to Chad. “They really are gonna get married!”

“Liar!”

“_I’m not a liar!_”

“Liar, liar, pants on fire!”

“_Shut up, I’m not lying!_” Ren felt tears start to sting at his eyes, but before Chad could tease him about that, Ms. Florona was there.

“What is all the yelling about?” she asked, calmly.

“Chad’s calling Ren a liar,” Jenny said, looking up to her. “But Ren says that he’s not lying.”

“Not lying about what?” Ms. Florona asked, carefully kneeling down next to the two boys.

“That uncle Keith and I met Lance,” Ren said, jutting out his lower lip in a pout. “And that uncle Keith and Lance are gonna get married.”

“And why do you think they’re going to get married?” his teacher asked, smiling softly.

“‘Cause! Uncle Keith likes Lance a lot, and when they met I told Lance that, and he said that he liked my uncle Keith, too!” he blinked back his tears, “So that means they’ll get married. ‘Cause they like each other!”

“Ren, sweetie, just because two people like each other doesn’t mean that they’ll get married.” she said, reaching over to lightly pat his shoulder.

“But my daddy and papa like each other,” the boy said, eyebrows scrunching together. “And they’re married. Why can’t uncle Keith and Lance get married, too?”

“It’s not that they _can’t_,” Ms. Florona said, choosing her words carefully. “It’s just that… they might not.”

And that confused Ren. Why wouldn’t uncle Keith marry Lance? Why wouldn’t Lance marry uncle Keith? _Why not?_ He’d planned to ask his uncle the next time he saw him, but a whole week happened. He’d mentioned it to Shiro and Adam, the latter of whom began to laugh, failing to hide it in a cough while Shiro just sighed, looking bemused.

Chad Bowers didn’t like anyone, but after that day he _definitely_ didn’t like Ren. He’d go out of his way to keep Ren’s favorite toys away from him, would knock over the game boards he’d be playing with someone else. He hid all of Ren’s favorite movies and wouldn’t tell anyone where they were, not even Ms. Florona!

Ren started to not like going to daycare.

It didn’t help that Shiro and Adam’s anniversary was coming up, and Ren knew they’d be going out of town. They always went out of town for a week and left Ren with Keith.  
Ren usually loved to spend a full week with Keith, but this week he definitely didn’t want to lose his parents.

Of course Keith noticed when he arrived to see his brother and brother-in-law off that Ren wasn’t clinging like usual. To him, anyway. He was definitely clinging to Shiro and Adam, though.

“Buddy,” Shiro said, smiling as he knelt down to set his son on the ground. “We’ll be back. We’re always back.”

“But..” Ren frowned, biting his lip as he clung to his father tighter. “But I don’t want you to go.”

“Why not?” Adam was kneeling down as well, “We always leave at this time, every year, and you’ve never had a problem with it before.”

Ren was quiet, sniffling as he rubbed at his eyes. Shiro frowned as he turned towards his husband. “Maybe we should cancel the flight.” Ren’s head shot up, eyes wide. “We can always do something small here at home.”

“No!” the two men jumped as they looked back down to their son. “No, don’t!”

“You’re giving some mixed signals.” Shiro said, slowly. “You said before you didn’t want us to go.”

Ren fell quiet again as he looked down at his feet once more. Shiro and Adam exchanged looks, but it was Keith who spoke up as he walked into the room and knelt down next to Ren.

“Hey,” Ren carefully raised his head, looking up at his uncle. “It’s okay to miss them.” he reached over, holding the boy’s hand. “I miss them, too, when they go.”

Ren blinked slowly.

“But we can keep each other company while they’re gone. Just like all the other times.” Keith smiled as he squeezed his nephew’s hand.

Ren didn’t know how to tell them what was really wrong. So he nodded and watched his parents leave like they did every year.

Ren did his best to get through the week, really he did. The first couple of days he managed. Chad was still mean to him, even when Ms. Florona caught him and put him in time out. That just seemed to make him double down his efforts to make Ren’s time at daycare _awful_.

It was day three when he finally couldn’t take it. Chad had been super terrible to Ren all day. When Keith had picked him up, got him buckled in and was driving away, Ren was looking down at his hands. His uncle looked at him a few times, noticing how quiet he was being. “Ren? Are you alright?” he asked. The four year old shrugged, sniffling quietly. “How was your day?” he tried again, “Did you learn anything neat?”

Ren shook his head, his lip trembling. “Ren?” there was a hiccup and Keith pulled over into the parking lot of a dollar store. He made his way towards the back seat, reaching out his hand towards his nephew. “Hey, buddy. What’s wrong?” Ren finally looked up, his eyes wet and cheeks stained red. He sniffled again and reached out his hands, grasping onto his uncle and began to cry harder. Between his tears, sobs and hiccups he managed to tell Keith about what happened. How it happened, when it happened.

Keith had held him, gently wiping away his tears. They stopped and got ice cream before heading home.

Ren had dozed off on the couch while Keith was making dinner. It was the only reason Keith was on the phone with Lance, openly talking about it. “Babe,” Lance spoke, voice filled with amusement. “You can’t fight a four year old.”

“The hell I can’t. And he’s five, apparently.” Keith grumbled back, stirring the pot of sauce, making sure it didn’t burn before checking the spaghetti noodles. “He’s been giving Ren shit for a while, now, Lance. And it’s… my fault.”

“Dude, you can’t blame yourself for a kid whose had a crappy upbringing.” Lance was good at soothing him. It’s only been a month and Keith had learned that whenever he was worked up, just hearing Lance’s voice managed to help him calm down. “What’s the kids name?”

“Chad Bowers.” there was a long pause on the other end as Keith checked the noodles, nodding at how they were cooking, mentalling telling himself they only needed a few more minutes. “Lance?”

“Who names their kid Chad?” his boyfriend finally spoke, and Keith snorted out a laugh.

“A Chad, clearly.” he replied, tasting the sauce, scrunching up his face before grabbing some garlic powder to add to it.

“Clearly.” Lance hummed softly, the two falling into a comfortable silence over the phone as Keith continued to cook, cradling his phone against his shoulder as he carried the noodles to strain them. “Anyway, no fighting five year olds.”

“I’m just going to give him the ass whoopin’ he deserves.” Keith muttered, tasting the sauce against. _Much_ better. “Since his parents clearly aren’t doing that.”

“He’s not your kid, Keith. You’ll get in trouble, and I don’t want to have to bail you out of jail this early in our relationship.” Keith’s heart did a funny little flip, _this early in our relationship_ meant that there’d be a _late in the relationship_. And that was a nice thought. “Just talk with his teacher?”

“Apparently she knows,” the dark haired man sighed, walking back to the noodles, giving them a gentle shake to make sure all the water was strained. “She’s been putting Chad in time out and scolding him for it, but he’s just… not caring? I don’t know if she’s spoken with his parents or not.”

Lance hummed on the other end of the line while Keith mixed the spaghetti together. “Please don’t fight a five year old. For me?”

Keith rolled his eyes, but smiled. “Fine. I won’t. For you.”

“Thank you.”

Keith didn’t fight a five year old. But when he went to pick up Ren the next day, he stopped to talk with Ms. Florona. She seemed nervous, but when Keith made it clear he wasn’t being mad at her, she calmed down.

“I have spoken with Mr. Bowers,” she explained, sitting with Keith inside while Ren played with a few of the other kids. Jenny Yui was flying a plane, detailing how she was going to fly through a tornado and go back in time to rescue Amelia Earhart. Ren was excitedly chasing after her as her best friend, the flying space lion (it was a cheap plastic toy, missing it’s right fore paw. Ren had a story about it, and would be happy to tell it to anyone who asked). “He doesn’t seem too… bothered by Chad’s behaviour.” she frowned, looking towards the kids. “Says that it should build character.”

“So he’s encouraging Chad.” Keith gritted his teeth. “What a load of…” he glanced towards the kids, Ren’s space lion was swooping down then flying up high as he cried out about dodging heat seeking missiles. “Lance didn’t say anything about not fighting a four year old’s dad.”

Florona smiled, obviously trying hard not to. “I really can’t condone you fighting anyone, Mr. Kogane.” she said, plainly. “It would look bad for the daycare and my employers.”

“I wouldn’t fight him here. Maybe take him to a Denny’s parking lot.”

Ms. Florona laughed, covering her mouth. “I’m pretty sure you telling me this makes me an accomplice.” She cleared her throat after a while, “But, in all seriousness, I’m trying to teach Chad that he can’t keep bullying people. But with his father not enforcing a punishment for his behaviour at home, I’m afraid it’s mostly an uphill battle.”

Keith was quiet, watching the two kids continue to play, Jenny having to stop and adjust her sparkly unicorn headband, “Ren said this started because he went to the live show a while back?”

“From what I’ve been able to piece together,” Florona spoke, watching Ren reach out to help Jenny fix her headband. “Ren was talking about meeting Lance, and Chad began to call him a liar. I think Chad might have been jealous, and that's what kicked started it.” she flicked her eyes over to Keith. “Then Ren mentioned that you and Lance were going to get married.”

Keith’s face quickly burst into a vibrant red color and he choked. “He _what_?!” he looked between Florona and Ren, who had gone back to playing with Jenny, the two now beginning their rescue attempt.

“He said the two of you were dating and were going to get married.” Florona said, smiling as she watched his face continue to burn. Keith covered his face with his hands, groaning.

“That kid can’t keep his mouth shut,” he grumbled, no real anger behind his words. He moved his hands down his face, sighing. “We’re… dating.” he said, looking up to the ceiling. “Lance and me. We’ve only had one date. One and a half.”

“Half?” Florona raised an eyebrow.

“It was just a coffee grab and talking for an hour before he had to leave.” Keith shook his head. “Half. I… I don’t really know if I can call him my boyfriend yet or not.”

Florona hummed, smiling softly. “Well, you know I’m not the one to ask.”

“Yeah.” Keith sighed again, closing his eyes. “So it … is my fault. At least, kind of.”

“It’s no one’s fault.” Florona said, gently. “Ren gave the information he had, based on what he knew. Chad didn’t believe him. It escalated.”

About that time, Jenny Yui’s parents arrived, just in time since Jenny and Ren were racing back towards the tornado, Amelia Earhart safely on board Jenny’s plane.

“So, Chad just… doesn’t believe Ren, and is jealous that Ren got to go to a show he didn't get to go to.” Keith said, watching as Ren and Jenny landed safely and cheered about “saving the day”.

“That seems to be the core problem, yes.”

“I think I can fix that.”

Florona blinked, looking confused. “Mr. Kogane?”

Ren waved happily as Jenny hurried towards her parents, grabbing her sparkly backpack and saying she’d see him tomorrow.

Keith smiled, standing up. “Thanks for letting me sit and talk.” he said, looking towards her. “Would you like me to help you clean up a little?”

“Oh, uh, no. It’s fine.” Florona stood up as well, smiling once more. “Have a nice day.” she knelt down, smiling to Ren. “You too, Ren. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“See you tomorrow, Ms. Florona!” Ren said, cheerfully, grabbing Keith’s hand. He waved back to her as the left the daycare, not noticing Keith pulling out his phone and sending out a text.

Ren was mad. Super, duper mad. He glared up to Chad Bowers as the older boy held up his backpack. “Give it back!” he said, jumping again to try and reach it.

“Take it from me!” Chad Bowers said, holding it _just_ out of range.

“Chad, give it back to him.” Markie Sutherfield said, frowning. “That’s Ren’s bag.”

“Yeah!” Jenny Yui said, crossing her arms. “I’m going to tell Ms. Florona!”

“Tattle-tell!” Chad Bowers shot back, but he was distracted enough for Ren to grab his backpack’s strap and tugged. He yanked it out of the older boy’s grip, and yelped when it smacked him in the face, knocking him down. Jenny and Markie hurried over to him, as well as some of the other kids, helping him up while Chad laughed at him.

Ren was going to hit him. He knew it. He rubbed at his face, tears stinging his eyes. He curled his hands up into fists, even as Ms. Florona stepped out from the daycare to see what was going on.

It wasn’t her that made him stop, though.

“Ren!” Everyone looked over, and Ren’s eyes were wide when he saw his uncle’s car. And Lance was stepping out, smiling bright and warm. “Hey, buddy!” he waved. Jenny, Markie and every other kid all gasped, watching in awe as Lance walked over to him, kneeling down in front of him. “How are you?”

“Lance?” Ren blinked, trying to push back his tears. “W-what are you doing here?”

“I just wanted to see you.” Lance said, still smiling as he gently reached down, patting his head.

“Y-you’re Lance.” Jenny asked, her eyes wide with wonder. Markie hugged his stuffed dinosaur tighter.  
“Ren really _was_ telling the truth…” he whispered, before smiling and bouncing up and down. “You’re Lance!”

The group of children all began to excitedly talk at once, everyone talking about how much they liked him, and how was Blue? And Periwinkle? And Magenta and Shovel and Pail and all of Lance’s other friends. And Lance never stopped smiling as he answered all of their questions.

It didn’t take long for him to figure out which one was Chad Bowers. He was the only kid who wasn’t talking. Just staring at Lance like he’d grown a second head.  
“You don’t know Ren.” he finally said, scrunching up his face.

“But I do.” Lance said, smiling to him. “I met him and his uncle a while back.”

“You’re not going to marry his uncle.” Chad pressed on, crossing his arms.

“Well, not right away.” Lance shrugged his shoulders, “We’ve just started dating.”

“You can’t marry his uncle.” Chad stomped his foot. “Dad says it’s not right!”

Lance frowned a bit, “But thinking about marrying Keith makes me happy.” he said, “Would you like it if someone said something that makes you happy wasn’t right?”

Chad blinked, before looking down. “No.” he mumbled.

“Would you like it if someone was mean to you, just because they were told something was wrong about you?”

Chad shook his head again. “No.”

Lance smiled again, “Then, maybe you shouldn’t be mean to others like that.”

Chad Bowers frowned, shuffling his feet slightly. He glanced up, seeing Ren hugging Lance. Behind Lance, he saw Ren’s uncle standing there, watching the group, eyes locked onto Chad. He gulped and looked back down again. “Sorry, Ren.”

And that had been the first time Chad Bowers had apologized to anyone about anything.

It was a bit of chaos getting all the children to go home when their parents and guardians showed up. Everyone wanted to stay and talk with Lance, Ren proudly showing Lance around his daycare and all of their toys and games and movies. Everyone wanted to play with Lance, and Lance managed to convince everyone on one single round of hide and seek, and "when you're found, you have to go home, okay?".

One by one, each child was tagged out, smiling happily and giggling and waving as they left. Keith and Lance noticed that, when Chad was tagged out, he looked less smiley than the other kids, but still waved as he walked towards his father. Soon, Ren was the last one left, and Lance hummed and hawwed as he walked around, trying to find him.

Ren giggled, hiding in the closet, just behind a few of the heavy winter coats. He peeked out, seeing Lance walk past and over to Keith.

“I think I’ve lost your nephew.” he said, “I can’t find him _anywhere_.”

Uncle Keith sighed, frowning. “That’s not good.” he said, “I guess we’ll have to go home without him.” Ren gasped, eyes wide. “We can stop by and get some ice cream. And I’ll make us some waffles for dinner.”

“No! I want waffles!” Ren burst forward, grabbing onto his uncle’s leg.

“There he is!” Lance gasped. “You’re very good at hiding, Ren.”

Ren smiled, giggling as Keith lifted him up, Lance grabbing his backpack. He hugged his uncle, waving back towards Ms. Florona as they left.

Ren really loved daycare. Chad Bowers was still mean, and when he told uncle Keith, Keith only held him, and told him how people can't really change overnight. That it takes time.

Maybe Ren would try and take time to help Chad stop being a bully. Someone who also liked Blue's Clues couldn't be all bad, right?

**Author's Note:**

> Fun Fact: Chad Bowers was named so because a, while trying to figure out what to name the kid I had the image of Lance trying to figure out who would name their kid "Chad" and Keith's response being "A Chad" and b, Bowers was from Stephen King's It, Henry Bowers. Just felt like a good last name so I yoinked it.


End file.
